The girl Yuffie
by Yuffie.K
Summary: Not the Yuffie you all were expecting, not the brat or thief...


  
The girl Yuffie  
  
A striking shadow cut a mean figure in the setting sun. It was a girl, a girl setting out from her hometown with determination; not for revenge nor in fear, but just to seek out the world and a few precious orbs that she wanted. A young girl she was, one no one would think would grow up, even if the sun rose from the west.   
  
The girl paused slightly at a foothill and turned back for a moment, shading her eyes from the sun's rays. The setting sun had cast an orange glow over her hometown, a town scarred by a previous war with Midgar; yet immensely beautiful and mystic in this light. She didn't regret leaving - leaving brought adventures, brought materia to help Wutai with. Besides, she had grown really sick of staying at the same place for such a long time, not that she didn't like Wutai - she loved it. Having fixed this scene in her mind, she headed out towards the world, and the unknown.  
  
The night was nigh, so she camped in the woods nearby. It was a clear night, much like the one she had met Reno. But then he went to join SOLDIER… She tried to shut her mind of all thoughts of him. She failed. He had become one of the Turks. One of the oh so prestigious Turks. Abandoned her… ~ Fine ~ she had thought. ~ Not like I can't survive without you! ~ She had proved she could. Proved with the stubbornness and grim determination that she had and will always have. She had kept Reno and his memories locked up in some part of her mind securely, and rarely unlocked the lock.  
  
But now seemed like a good time to open up the old wounds that was left by him, the hurt and anger and frustration that refused, that damningly refused, to scab over and heal. Especially now, when Shrina was destroyed, and the Turks may be jobless. It just felt right, to face her past. Especially here too. She had her pride back in Wutai; she had an image to uphold. Here, no one sees her, hears her, knows her.   
  
She had not cried when Reno left for SOLDIER. She didn't allow herself too. Instead, she had seethed with anger, with jealously that a being in a stupid SOLDIER program meant more to him then she had, with hatred… She had slapped him, hard. That was before, oh so long before, he had turned into one of them, one of the supposingly emotionless Turks. Robots, no less. Thinking robots, something like Vincent's two other monsters other then Chaos. Another of Shrina, of Hojo's hideous experiments?  
  
Unshed tears will always be shed someday. And someday was now. She cried, she racked, she sobbed; and the darkness of the night masked it for her, an act of sympathy. She hated him, loved him, hate, love, hatelovehate…… Hate and love, two totally opposite emotions. Was hate truly love in another form? Who cares? She cried out her anger, her hate, her love, her past, her memories, her shattered dreams… Everything. The night was finally quiet again, after a long while.  
  
The night was always good for masking, as Yuffie had learnt in her ninja training. The darkness provided cover, provided security from the enemy. But the enemy also has the same security and cover as her. The night was dangerous. So be non-existent, black upon black. Be invisible. Be safe.  
  
She had thrown caution to the wind earlier, but she was alert now. A slight rustling to her left disturbed the peace of the night, and she tensed up. It was a raccoon, one running away from danger. She had learnt to read the signals animals gave for her ninja training, and she watched the small raccoon with interest now.   
It was terrified. * Danger! Run! Man with cold metal hand above! Dangerous! Run! * It scrambled off.   
~ Man with cold metal hand? ~ Yuffie thought. Only two men she knew had metal hands, and they were Vincent and Barret. Metal hands weren't very popular, you know? Barret was still in Corel (or Junon or where?) being a mayor, and nobody knows where Vincent was. It could be Vincent, he was a traveler like her, or someone else entirely. She decided to take a look - if it was Vincent she could try to irritate him as she always did, or if it was someone else, she could try to steal his or her materia.  
  
She hiked up the rather high hill, and it was about midnight when she reached the peak. She could see a familiar silhouette in the distance, a tall form draped with red, metal claw hanging limply at the side. Well, it was Vincent, so she could irritate him.  
  
"Long time no see, Vampire." Yuffie called out. Vincent's red eyes met hers and he gave her a slight nod. ~ Creepy eyes… ~ "How long have you been standing there?" she asked. ~ Probably forever ~, she thought. Vincent shrugged. ~ Sheesh, is it so hard to get this guy to talk? ~ " Ever think of those days in AVALANCHE?" She asked again, desperate for speech. He shrugged again.  
  
Yuffie groaned in her mind. She thought she would find a comrade from the days of AVALANCHE who would chat with her, though she should have expected this. She was never well liked in AVALANCHE, anyway. "Aren't you tired from standing there so long?" she asked for what seemed like the umpteenth. No answer. She gave up and sat on the ground, leaning on an old tree. ~ Fine, if he wouldn't talk, I wouldn't. ~ She stared resolutely at the shining stars in the sky. She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time once again.  
  
Sitting there, she remembered the AVALANCHE members, and remembered the days with them. She also remembered that Tifa was always the one who stared at the stars. Yuffie dropped her gaze and aimed it instead at the ground. After a while, Vincent went over to the tree and sat down next to her. She was staring at the soil angrily, refusing to speak. The full moon shone with full brilliance above them. " Hey, don't you turn into a werewolf tonight?" Yuffie asked, pointing to the sky, but still looking at the ground.  
  
"I'm sorry, Yuffie, okay?" Vincent finally said. ~ Hey, amazing! The mute man finally talks! ~ Yuffie thought sarcastically. But she softened. ~ Oh well, he apologized…~ "Forgiven." She replied. She kept the answer short and sweet. ~Wasn't that what Vincent liked? Short and sweet? ~ She thought. She sighed with exasperation, and lifted her head to watch the moon's journey.  
  
Yuffie and Vincent sat there for the longest time, both maintaining the silence. ~Silence is golden~ Yuffie finally realized. She always had to make idle chatter, irritating everyone who was with her… ~Maybe I shouldn't crap so much.~ For the first time, Yuffie discovered that the night was beautiful, perhaps even as beautiful as Wutai in the glow of the setting sun. ~The night is not only a tool for attacking, it is also an object of beauty~ A strange pair they were, one young, one immortal.  
  
By and by, Yuffie accidentally fell asleep. She woke the next morning to the glow of the morning sun. She was in a room of an Inn, and the expenses have been fully paid by some mysterious guy, as the innkeeper had said. She could've bet all her materia it was Vincent. ~Well, maybe I'll keep one or two pieces… ~ She smiled. ~ It wasn't like Vincent to show his care for other people. Well, maybe he has got over Lucrecia, like I've got over Reno….~   
  
End  
  
Well…. Were you hoping for some romance or something? Too bad if you are… Sigh… if there's some parts that seem weird to you, well, R&R and point it out to me, k? I think I'll redo and replace it if you all help me… coz I've never played FF& before, and I don't even have a hint of the geographical locations, so…Help? J How's the story anyway?  



End file.
